Teachers Pet
by Awesome one
Summary: Claire Redfield is at her wits end with her younger sister K-Mart. She continues to get in trouble at school and will not listen to Claire. It comes to boil when K-Mart pulls a prank on her chemistry teacher Ms. Abernathy and Claire has to have a meeting with the teacher. She discovers things she hadn't been inspecting about her sister and herself. All because of a blond teacher.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello readers! This idea struck while I was, oddly, sitting with a couple of my friends. See, my friend Cody, he just got back from...something…Marine related because he is about to be shipped off to war. And he is my best bro so naturally we talk about chicks when we are together, even with his girlfriend sitting right next to him. Well, he and I are huge Resident Evil fans, and the movies were playing when he mentioned something about wishing we had teachers as hot as Alice when we were in high school. And this idea bloomed to life. Please enjoy and if you don't go ahead and complain in a review. Thanks. **

**I obviously do not own Resident Evil rights, to games or movies. **

"K-Mart I swear to everything that is holy that I am going to murder you. With love, of course, but I'm still going to fucking _murder_ you."

"Oh Claire, your overreacting." The redhead stopped her pacing that she had been doing for the past 20 minutes since she had received a phone call from her young sisters teacher. Slowly she pivoted on her feet to glare daggers at the blond teen sitting on the couch with her feet tucked underneath her.

"Overreacting? I'm _overreacting_ K-Mart!? Your flunking out of school and on top of that you have a weeks worth of in-school suspension and I have to go to the school and have a meeting with your teacher. Whom you _injured _during this crazy stunt of yours! You could have killed her! Your just damn lucky that woman doesn't want to sue us!"

K-Mart bit her lip and glanced away from her irate sister, choosing to fall silent. That led to infuriate Claire even more. So the redhead began pacing again in front of the entertainment center that didn't have a TV on it. Claire couldn't afford one. The only reason they had an entertainment center was because it had belonged to their parents who had passed away in a crash. Claire could remember sitting on a workbench watching her father and her twin brother Chris make the entertainment center years ago, before K-Mart had been born. When her parents had passed she had inherited it as well as the responsibility of K-Mart seeing as her brother Chris was off fighting in some war. She didn't know which, there was always a warfront that needed Chris Redfield at the front of it. Back at home Claire fought to make ends meat, barely scraping up enough money to keep both herself and K-Mart clothes, fed, and sheltered. On top of all this stress weighing on Claire's shoulders she had to deal with K-Mart fighting her at every turn when it came to school which was something the eldest female Redfield just couldn't understand. K-Mart was a studious girl who enjoyed learning new things as well as doing the work entailed in learning such new things yet the moment K-Mart had turned 16 and entered her third year in high school she had stopped. She didn't do her work and she didn't act like she cared. She fought all her teachers and rebelled every rule the school had made. This time, K-Mart had gone as far as to blow up a glass beaker in Chemistry during their gunpowder experiment. The thin glass had shattered and a few shards had impaled the woman's forearms and one particular piece had cut her face.

Claire just couldn't understand her sister anymore. The way she was acting just wasn't like her at all. K-Mart was a sweet, loving girl who wouldn't hurt a fly but now she had turned into this dark, angry thing Claire had no control over. No matter how hard Claire tried she couldn't get her sister to open up to her anymore and at least try to explain why she was doing these things. Not since Claire had sat K-Mart down and told the teen she wanted to put her in counseling to work out whatever problems K-Mart was going through. Ever since that moment K-Mart had been hostile to Claire and wouldn't talk to the redhead about anything other than the weather or listen when Claire talked about how shitty work was. That was what had really hurt Claire, the loss of their connection. They use to be so close and now K-Mart hated her. The feelings that stirred up within the redhead closely matched the feelings of having a knife twisted in her gut.

Claire stopped her pacing and let out a long breath of air between her parted lips. She cast a glance at K-Mart to see cold hazel eyes staring back at her. Another stab of pain lanced up Claire's spine straight to her tear ducks, her eyes burning with imminent tears she refused to let spill. K-Mart looked at her with such hate. Claire trudged across the soft carpet over to K-Mart and plopped onto the couch beside her sister, trying to conceal her flinch when K-Mart scooted away from her. Trying and failing.

"K," Clare kept her watering green eyes fixed on her folded hands in her lap, twisting her mothers ring around her middle finger in the nervous habit she had picked up the day the lawyer had handed her the ring, "I just want to understand why your doing all this. Please. Help me understand."

"Why Claire? So you can hand me over to some phyc so you don't have to deal with my 'emotional issues'? Stop acting like you care." The frigid cold in K-Mart's tone froze over Claire's heart and shattered it to pieces at the same time.

"Oh K that's not true, I only said that because-"

"No Claire, I get it. Whatever okay? You don't want to deal with me 'cause you don't give a fuck. Fine, if you don't give a fuck then neither do I." The blonde stood from the couch and began to walk away but Claire shot her hand out to grip the young girls thin wrist. Almost instantly K-Mart ripped her hand away from Claire's touch as if she had been burnt but had the decency to pause when she saw tears trailing down her older sisters alabaster cheeks. Something made K-Mart's muscles twitch beneath her skin and for a moment Claire saw something of the K-Mart she knew. A ache in her sisters hazel eyes upon seeing Claire in tears but as soon as Claire thought she saw it, the moment passed and K-Mart was once again cold.

"K," Claire's voice was hoarse from tears and not above a whisper but she knew her sister could hear her just fine, "K-Mart that's not true at all. None of it. I love you. You're my baby sister and all I want is the best for you. I just…I don't have a fucking clue what I'm doing here! I'm not Mom! I don't know how to take care of you right and your so angry all the time I just…I don't know what to do!"

K-Mart averted her gaze and folded her arms across her chest, speaking towards the windows that lined the whole sidewall of their apartment, "Whatever Claire. I'm going to bed. You driving me to school tomorrow or should I catch the bus?"

Claire slammed her eyes shut and dropped her head in her hands when she heard the obvious dismissal of Claire pouring her heart out to K-Mart. The blonde didn't want to hear it and she didn't care. Not anymore. Letting out a ragged breath Claire hunkered low into the couch and continued to cry quietly into her hands.

"Well? You gonna answer me or what?" Green eyes flicked up to K-Mart who still was staring at the windows, trying her hardest not to set her hazel eyes on Claire again for the night.

"I'll drive you. I have to be there early to talk to your teachers anyway including your principal."

"Kay." The teen turned and strode for the set of stairs that led into the loft K-Mart used as a bedroom.

"I love you K." Claire called out before K-Mart could get up the steps. The teen paused mid step for a brief second, casting a glance at Claire, then shook her head and stomped the rest of the way up That burned just like it did every night Claire told her sister she loved her and the teen ignored her.

Claire lifted her wrist to look at her watch. Barely past 10. She had to get up early but she knew even if she laid down now, she wouldn't fall asleep until well past midnight. She looked down at the stack of papers resting on the coffee table in front of her and leaned forward to grab them. Since she couldn't sleep, she might as well catch up on work. Being a legal assistant offered nothing but grueling hours and shitty pay for all the work she had to do but at least she got weekends off. Weekends that she use to spend with K-Mart until things went bad for the sisters then Claire took up a part time job as a mechanic assistant. She ended up having to do paperwork for both jobs but at least with the second one she was able to do something she loved, wrench on cars. The paperwork still sucked dick though.

She set the stack against her thighs and pulled the cap off her pen with her lips, settling into the soft cushions of the couch in preparation for hours of filling out reports and surveys. Minutes flew by into hours until Claire managed to fall asleep on the couch around 2 in the morning, her paperwork slipping from her grip to scatter across the carpet.

**Xx**

"Claire! Wake the fuck up before you make me late!" The woman cracked her eyes open to see her sister standing beside the couch with her arms crossed and her hip cocked as she tapped her foot impatiently. It took a few minutes for Claire's brain to catch up with what K-Mart was saying to her and when it did her eyes went wide and she bolted up right. Already she was jumping off the couch and stumbling in the direction of her bedroom only to pause and turn back to K-Mart.

"What time is it!? Are we late already!? I'm so sorry I slept in I was doing paperwork all night!"

K-Mart rolled her eyes and uncrossed her arms to check her watch with a frown, "Like I care Claire. It's _your_ job to remember, you my _legal guardian _if you recall. And it's ten past 7 so hurry up please. Class starts at 8."

Clare's pursed her lips to fight of the woe tightening her throat and stomach, feeling yet another jab of pain stabbing her heart when she heard K-Mart's coldness once again since it all started. Nodding smally the redhead turned and walked down the hall to the left of the entertainment center that led to her small bedroom.

She pushed the door open with her toe and quickly pushed past her unmade bed, nearly tripping over a pile of dirty clothes on her way. Claire had never been a neat person and since taking on the role of being K-Mart's parental unit her sloppiness had grown into an entity of its own. The house stayed clean for the most part since K-Mart cleaned while Claire worked but in the redhead's corner of the house, her room, a never ending mess always awaited her. Claire was so used to it by now though it hardly bothered her, especially considering the fact that the woman fell asleep on the couch often enough that she really didn't even need a bed. All she used her room for was cooling down after a fight with K-Mart, the occasional and very rare one night stand, and storing her clothes.

She bumped her hip against the frame of her four post canopy bed that her father had made her when she was a teenager and cursed loudly, reaching down to rub it absently while she limped to the walk in closet she kept her stuff in. She wasn't even going to bother with a shower, she didn't have time. Her fingers closed around the brass knobs of the sliding door and pulled them open in one swift gesture, moving into the closet the moment they flew open. She kneeled to pull a pair of black ankle socks out of a plastic tub and her knee high red leather boots. Both items she tossed onto her bed behind her and stood to pull a pair of skin tight jeans off a hanger. Before she tossed them over to join the boots and socks she held the denim against her nose and took a deep sniff. They smelled like peaches and mangos, the fabric softener K-Mart had picked out about a month ago. She smiled because she knew her sister had to have washed these for her because Claire never remembered to do her own laundry and tossed them on her bed. The white v-neck she pulled off a rack smelled clean as well and Claire quickly shucked off the wrinkled button up blouse she had on to replace it with the shirt. She yanked a red leather vest off another hanger and pulled it on over her shirt, leaving it unzipped since it was form fitting as it was. On her trip back to her bed Claire unzipped her black dress pants and let them pool to the floor. She had one leg through her jeans when K-Mart appeared in her peripherals. Scowling as per usual.

"What's taking you so long? We should have left like 10 minutes ago." Claire tugged the jeans up over her hips and fell onto the bed to pull her socks on.

"Thanks for washing my clothes." As Claire expected K-Mart huffed and looked away, out the large floor to ceiling windows behind the headboard of Claire's bed.

"Whatever. Could you hurry?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm going!" Claire rolled onto her back and stretched her legs out in front of her, pulling one boot on then the next. She tugged the zipper up from the heel to the top of her calf for both boots then moved up higher to tug the zipper of her jeans up. Finally done the redhead rolled off the bed onto her feet and rushed past K-Mart into the living room in search of her keys.

K-Mart followed her with a scowl, her fingers tugging restlessly at the straps of her colorful backpack slung across her shoulders. Hazel eyes watched Claire go from the living room to the kitchen then back again looking for her keys until the blonde let out an exasperated growl.

"Oh my fuck Claire! Seriously! You left your keys in your coat pocket after you hung it up yesterday and started bitching at me."

Claire stopped what she was doing and dropped the couch cushion back in place, straightening her posture. She glanced over at the coat rack by the lime green door then back at K-Mart. Slowly Claire lowered her dark brows over her swirling emeralds and pulled her lips tight in agitation.

"You need to watch your mouth kid." The sisters shared a glare-off as Claire passed the teen on her way to her coat. Behind her back K-Mart grit her teeth and muttered a string of curse words just to spite Claire but the redhead pretended not to hear it. She knew K-Mart had only picked up cussing to annoy the redhead. Claire yanked the charcoal gray pea coat off the wrack and dug around in the pockets until her fingers brushed cool metal. K-Mart had been right, as usual. The girl had always been the one to keep Claire's head on her shoulders.

"C'mon kid. Lets go." Claire stuffed her arms in the jackets sleeves and pulled the thick, leather lined coat on over her vest and shirt. She pulled the collar up around her neck and brushed the hemline that fell to her mid thigh with the tips of her fingers after she finished buttoning up the coats many metal buttons.

"Stop calling me a kid. I'm not a kid anymore Claire."

"Maybe not but your still acting like one." They shared another glare off that K-Mart won by storming past Claire and shoulder checking the redhead. Claire reined in her temper just barely though couldn't stop herself from slamming their apartment door.

**Xx**

The ride to Dawson Matisse High School was a quiet, tension filled one. Claire gripped the wheel tight enough to snap the thing in half and K-Mart blasted music through the headphones plugged into her iPod as she stared out the window. An occasional honk would sound from traffic and Claire would sometimes yell obscenities out the window at drivers that pissed her off but the sisters never once looked at one another nor conversed. A stark contract to how it use to be before their big fight over counseling Claire had suggested. The sisters use to laugh and talk the entire 20 minute ride each morning, sometimes even belting out horrible renditions of songs playing on the radio. Now all that went between them was a wall of ice and the sounds of K-Mart's music through her headphones.

Claire sighed as she turned into the parking lot, slowing down for the speed bumps ringing the huge parking lot. Her matte colored car didn't shimmer in the morning sun as did the gloss coated cars filling parking spaces she drove around. The car, her car, wasn't painted in pretty colors like most cars were because Claire had never been interested in those things. When she had purchased her Chevelle she had been K-Mart's age and she had taken it to a body shop to have the original cherry red painted over with a matte black. She had kept the two thick white racing stripes streaking from the hood to the spoiler, those she had ordered to be painted with pearl essence. There was nothing she loved more than her car except, of course, her sister sitting in the passenger seat hating up a storm.

The redhead pulled into a space near the double doors of the large high school and killed the purring engine, yanking her keys out of the ignition and turning to speak to K-Mart. To avail seeing as K-Mart had thrown the door open and exited the car as soon as it had stopped. The slam resonated not just in Claire's ears but the parking lot also, alerting a few groups of students. Claire growled under her breath at both K-Mart storming off and slamming the door to her cherished car when she knew Claire hated that.

The elder Redfield sister pocketed her wallet and pulled the sleeve of her jacket up to check her watch. 5 till 8. She was almost late.

"Fucking shit." Claire shoved her shoulder into the door as she opened it for no other reason than to vent her frustrations and stood straight, yanking on the hem of her coat to pull the wrinkles from it. She glanced around the lot, noting the stares she was receiving from students littering the lot instead of going to class like they should. Her fingers twitched from her want to flip off the little pricks but she managed to withhold the desire. Instead she broke her rule and slammed her door shut, locking it aggressively and shoving her hands into the deep pockets of her pea coat for warmth.

Snow slush mixed with salt covered the parking lot and, though the sun shone above, didn't have a threat to melt away because the temperature was only a mere two degrees below freezing. Claire had checked the forecast last night sometime between filling out a building claim for the lawyer firm she worked for and the transmission replacement papers for the repair shop so she was well aware that clouds would cover the sun soon enough and it would begin snowing again before K-Mart was let out of school. Despite Claire's yelling and begging, her sister refused to wear the wool water repellent coat Claire had spent a hefty price on for K-Mart. Instead she wore the same tie dye hoodie everyday and everyday she came home soaked chattering her teeth. Claire was just waiting for her sister to catch pneumonia or hypothermia simply because she was to damn stubborn to listen to Claire.

The redhead grit the heels of her boots into the snow coating the steps of the school with each step, enjoying the crunching sound it made. She was angry. She was always angry since her parents had died and she was twice as angry now that K-Mart hated her and she didn't know what to do with her anger. Mostly because the anger she felt was self loathing for not being there when her parents died and fucking up with her sister. She was young, barely into her twenties, and didn't have a fucking clue how to raise a 16 year old girl who was struggling with the death of both of her parents. When Claire had suggested that K-Mart get physiological help it was because she had hoped that K-Mart's counselor could do what Claire couldn't and instill the ethics K-Mart would need to grow up strong and right in this world. Yet K-Mart had taken it the entirely wrong way and thought Claire was trying to shove K-Mart off onto someone else because she didn't want to have to deal wit K or take on the responsibility of being a parent at such a young age. Maybe Claire was but not in the way K-Mart perceived it. Claire just needed some ground to stand on before the waters of her crazy life came up over her head and drowned her.

The weary redhead pushed her way through the crowed halls until she managed to find the office. Plexiglas surrounding the oval shaped office residing in the middle of the asterisk shaped building that all the hallways led to. Inside the office Claire could see ladies dressed sharply sitting at desks either doing work or talking on the phone for whatever reason. She could see through the transparent walls the solid oak of the Principals office door through which Claire would have to go. She hated Principals. She had been in their offices far to often when she had been in high school. Sighing, the woman pushed open the door of the office and leaned against the reception desk as she waited to be noticed.

"Hello. What can I help you with Ms..?" A slightly overweight woman with curly brown hair spoke in a bored voice from behind a metal desk, her phone pressed against the cleft of her shoulder with her head tilted so she could have free hands to file her nails.

"Redfield. Claire Redfield. I have a meeting with Principal Wesker about my sister K-Mart Redfield?"

The woman pointed her nail file towards the oak door in a dismissive wave, "Through there. He's expecting you. Your late."

Claire fought to repress her eye roll, "I know. Thanks."

She stalked towards the door and paused to knock, opening it after she heard a quiet utterance of Mr. Wesker telling her to come in. The room reeked of some sort of exotic spice that made Claire's nose burn and her eyes water. She couldn't name it but she now knew she didn't like it in the least. This room was shaped like a crescent moon. A waning wall behind the principals desk was a floor to ceiling stained bookcase filled with hundreds of different novels and encyclopedias. Above her a domed light roughly the size of her Chevelle's V-8 engine was centered in the mosaic tiles of the ceiling, creating the picture of cherubs fooling around drinking wine and playing harps. The chubby bastards gave Claire the creeps. Two tall lamps sat on both sides of the doorway like a gateway of some sorts, both made of steal inlayed with an ornate design of swirls and dancing figures. Those things creeped her out too. The entire office creeped her out. Including the tall blond man sitting behind his desk with his hands folded atop the wood and his brown eyes locked on her.

His overly coifed hair was slicked back with copious amounts of gel as usual, giving a shimmer that made it look greasy. Not quite achieving the debonair look she figured he was hoping for. He was deathly pale, as always even when the summer rolled around and offered the occupants of the town a chance to tan, and wore black which highlighted his paleness. He wore a fleece crew neck that had a silk breast pocket sewn into it, both dark black to match his black jeans and black leather belt looped around his slender hips. The shine of his black dress shoes poked out from under his desk almost as if he were trying to show Claire that he wore expensive shoes that shinned like the sun. His pale lips pulled tight across his bright teeth when he flashed a huge, disturbing smile that made Claire want to cower behind the creepy lamps.

"Ms. Redfield! Glad you could make it. Please, take a seat." He waved his hand at the black chair residing in front of his desk which Claire took only after a brief moment of contemplating bolting from the room.

"I'm sorry I'm late Mr. Wesker. Late night, you know." She gave him an apologetic smile and rolled her shoulders as she peeled her thick coat from herself and folded it across her lap. Her bare arms prickled with bumps when the cold air washed across her skin though she didn't put her coat back on, opting to grow use to the slightly cool air of the office.

"That's perfectly alright Ms. Redfield but please, as I've told you before, call me Albert." His lascivious smile didn't go unnoticed to the redhead nor did his not so subtle leer towards her cleavage thanks to the v-neck of her shirt. Silently she berated herself for not putting on a turtleneck. She knew Albert Wesker from high school, the blond man being something of a puzzling freak who liked to write her creepy love letters he signed with an alias though she knew it was him and melted the plastic forks and spoons during lunch with a Zippo as he watched her eat with her brother Chris. He had always liked her and he had always given Claire the creeps. She had warned K-Mart not to stick around him or ever be alone with him when she found out he was the principal of the school. Granted the man had never shown any signs of being a dangerous pervert other than the sometimes smutty letters he left Claire, the redhead still didn't trust him nor did she want K-Mart near him knowing he was still obsessed with her.

Claire tugged at the collar of her vest self consciously, trying to pull it over her chest but failing thanks to it being formfitting. She shifted in her seat uncomfortably, casting her eyes towards the door and sighing when she recalled why she had to sit in this seat.

"Sorry Mr. Wesker. Could we please discuss my sisters punishment? That is what you wanted to meet with me about correct?" She rounded her gaze back to his, cringing slightly when he lifted his brown eyes from her chest and pulled a book from his desk to lay it across his lap. She didn't want to think about why.

"Oh yes that. Well as your already aware K-Mart destroyed school property with the little explosion of hers and injured Ms. Abernathy, the chemistry teacher. I would have had to charge you for the damage done but, for some reason, Ms. Abernathy has chosen to pay for the damage and replacement equipment herself. She didn't give me a reason why but specifically asked that you meet with her this period since it is her free period. As you already are aware she has chosen not to file a lawsuit against your sister or yourself and has asked me that the school doesn't file one either. I agreed to her wishes reluctantly but saw fit to give K-Mart a weeks worth of in-school suspension. As well as after school detention for a week that she will spend with Ms. Abernathy in her classroom doing work or helping her clean her room. Whatever Ms. Abernathy sees fit. As part of K-Mart's punishment I won't be allowing her to ride the late bus home for the week she spends her detention with Ms. Abernathy so you'll have to work something out as means of transportation for your sister. I'm sorry if this makes things harder on you Claire but I had no other choice. Your sister is out of control and needs to be seriously punished. If it weren't for Ms. Abernathy asking me not to, I would have called the police on the delinquent." Mr. Wesker finished by shaking his head and clicking his tongue against his pallet in a condescending fashion.

Claire balled her hands into trembling fists she pressed against the sides of her thighs, clenching her jaw tight and forcing a fake smile for show. She loathed Albert Wesker and she loathed that he spoke of her baby sister like she was trash under his shiny Italian shoes. How dare he, the slimy fucking bastard.

"Please Sir," Claire stopped herself from finishing that sentence with _fuck off_, and took a deep breath before continuing, "if that's all, I'd like to go speak with Ms. Abernathy now."

Albert frowned at Claire's dismissal but held his professional poise and stood to his full height, "Yes of course. Shall I show you to her room?"

Claire stood as well, scooting the chair back with the backs of her knees in her haste and slung her jacket over her arm, already backing away from Albert Wesker, "No that's alright I can find it myself. What's the room number?"

Albert stepped around the desk, reaching to take both Claire's jacket and her arm but the redhead was swift enough to step away from his reaching hands, "The hallways can be very confusing for someone who isn't use to them. Let me show you."

Claire backed up until her shoulders made contact with the door, her fingers questing for the doorknob while she continued to smile for Mr. Wesker, "Really, it's fine. All I need is her room number."

Albert stopped just a few inches from Claire and frowned down at her angrily, his face muscles twitching beneath his cheeks and his jaw moved from side to side as he grit his teeth. He didn't like being dismissed so easily. Why couldn't Claire understand no one would love her like he does or take care of her like he would? All that stood in his way was that brat K-Mart and Claire's scary brother who had threatened to kill him in high school if he didn't back off. Not that his threats had stopped Albert, oh no. He was a clever boy and he knew how to shower Claire with his love without Chris finding out. She should feel lucky that he had chosen her! He could have any woman he wanted and yet Claire still refused him. A niggling part of him couldn't deny, however, that he did love the chase.

So he smiled at her and folded his hands behind his back, taking two large steps away from the woman, "Her room is 213 in the science wing of the building. If you have trouble locating it please don't hesitate to find me and I'll be more than eager to show you the way Claire."

Claire swung the door open and stepped out of it, gulping in huge lung fills of air not polluted by his acrid cologne stinking up the office, "Sure. Goodbye Mr. Wesker."

"I've told you Claire, call me Albert." Was the last thing she heard of him before shutting his door and exiting the office in a hurry. She could go another life time and a half before she wanted to see Albert Wesker's face again.

She made her way around the glass side of the office and leaned against the white stuck-o backside of it to peer down the various hallways. K-Mart had described how the schools building structure worked because she had been complaining about how easily she kept getting lost freshmen year. The school was huge and the main part of the building was shaped just like an asterisk, each hallway was called a branch or a wing. Each branch or wing was dedicated to a particular learning curriculum such as English, Social Studies, Math and so on. The halls were long and wide with classrooms on both the left and right sides of the halls. Starting at the beginning of the hall were lower level classes and towards the very end of the hall were the junior/senior classes as well as AP courses and college level classes.

Knowing all this Claire had found Ms. Abernathy's room quite easily after first locating which was the science wing. The door for room 213 was already open, inviting her into the brightly lit classroom. She peered inside first, checking for any signs of the teacher lurking about but didn't see anyone so she stepped inside. Blue wash walls reflected the neon lights even spaced on the red and yellow colored ceiling, giving the room a nice cozy feel to it. The room it's self was eye shaped that didn't taper at the edges as eyes did but instead bowed out in a half circle made of red clay brick, the wall at the far end of the room housing tall window panes in the brick as opposed to the brick holding the door she had just passed through. At the front of the room a desk on wheels sat in front of a large white screen bolted to the blue wall, another smaller desk with a computer and stacks of papers was beside the one on wheels. In front of the desk on wheels were rows of tables that had chairs set at them where the students sat as Ms. Abernathy taught them. On the far end of the room where the wall bowed out and turned to red clay brick more tables, taller than the other ones students sat at, stood. Clutters of beakers, test tubes, and various other lap equipment littered the table tops in a neat, clean way. Attached to each table were four small lockers that Claire assumed the stored their personal things in like lab papers, aprons, goggles, and the like in so they wouldn't become misplaced or stolen. To the left of the tables another door was open, leading into a dimly lit room that Claire could hear sounds of clinking glass coming from. She maneuvered around the tables to head for the door, hoping it was Ms. Abernathy making the noises and not something else. On her way to the door Claire laid her jacket across one of the tables to free her hands since this room was much warmer than Wesker's office had been.

"Oh…where did I put the iodine? Perhaps I put it…on these stupid…high shelves…" Claire heard someone mutter in a low gravelly voice that soothed Claire and made her feel like she was on fire at the same time. She had never heard a woman with such a naturally husky voice. It was extremely attractive as it was pleasant to listen to. Claire cleared her throat and knocked against the wooden doorframe of the metal door that had a large yellow chemical warning sign on it.

"Hello? Ms. Abernathy? I'm Claire Redfield, I'm here to talk to you about my sister K-Mart." As sudden as Claire had spoke, the teacher appeared in the doorway with a dark glass jug of what she assumed had been the iodine the woman was muttering about.

Oxygen was a funny, slippery thing that her lungs couldn't grab a hold of after she laid her eyes on Ms. Abernathy for the very first time. K-Mart had once mentioned, off-handedly, that Ms. Abernathy was the prettiest of all her teachers but pretty just didn't do this woman justice. Gorgeous fit her much better. She was at least 4 inches taller than Claire but the redhead accounted that to the pointy toed stilettos strapped to the woman's feet. Without them she was probably no more than an inch taller than Claire, maybe two. Her smile was bright and her lips were painted with blood red lipstick that went well with her complexion. Shaggy dirty blond hair fell to her ears in choppy ringlets giving her a messy look that didn't make her appear unprofessional or boyish. The azure of her eyes twinkled in the lighting though Claire suspected they twinkled if she were in light or in dark. There was little left of the cut on her face, just a long jagged scabbed over line above her eyebrow and a few scrapes on one of her otherwise smooth looking cheeks. They weren't inflamed or red so she must be taking proper care of the wounds. That made Claire feel a little less guilty for her sisters part in the maiming of the woman's beautiful visage.

She wore a pair of black slacks that looked as though they had painted on her, molding against the gentle curves of her calves and her strong, toned thighs. Claire couldn't see Ms. Abernathy from behind but she suspected that the slacks hugged her perfect ass in all the right ways. The white silk blouse she wore was tucked into the hem of her slacks hugging her boyish hips. As did her pants, the shirt hugged Ms. Abernathy's voluptuous curves leaving nothing to the imagination. Her stomach was flat and firm beneath the crisp blouse and rounded only at the woman's small but pert breasts, the neckline dipping only low enough to show her smooth unblemished collarbone. The material cut off at the beginning of her toned biceps, leaving her creamy skinned willowy arms bare. Bare except for the gauze wraps around her forearms covering what Claire assumed were the injuries she had sustained during K-Mart's explosion. She wore little for jewelry save for a multicolored bracelet encompassing her left wrist and a braided necklace around her elegant neck, some sort of tribal pattern carved from bone hanging just above her bust. Ms. Abernathy was the perfect combination of business, class, beauty, comfort, and perfection. In laymen terms, she was an earthbound angel.

Claire was more attracted to her than she had been to any woman in a very long time. She had entertained a gaggle of woman for nights of pleasure over the years but none of them had been solid for Claire or been what she was looking for. None of them touched her more inside than outside and none of them left her feeling anything other than bliss from post-orgasm. It wasn't the sex Claire was after but the solid home feeling a woman gave her. Now, she felt the stirring of something like that gurgling low in her belly and being nurtured to life the longer she stood in Ms. Abernathy's presence. It was wrong to crush on K-Mart's teacher but she couldn't stop it if she wanted to. Something about the woman drew Claire in.

"Oh yes! Hello Claire. I'm Ms. Abernathy but please just call me Alice. Come over here with me a moment please so I can set this down?" Alice swished the iodine in the jug with a friendly smile, inclining her head towards the desk with wheels on it.

"Oh ah, yeah. Need me to carry that for you?" Claire stuck her arms out in a gesture to take the jug but Alice shook her head, chuckling softly. The sound of her laughter made Claire's IQ drop a hundred points.

"No I'm alright thank you Ms. Redfield. Though if I may, you sounded just like your sister K-Mart when you asked me that." Alice chuckled again and turned to stride towards her desk. Claire was right. Her ass looked damn fine in those pants.

"Ah," Claire stumbled after the woman, trying to form coherent thoughts into words other than the bumbling sounds she was regurgitating, "What do you mean?"

Alice pulled the cork stopper from the jug and began pouring minute amounts of iodine into little plastic cups that had numbers labels on each in black marker. Once she finished her task she placed the stopper back in the jug and began putting the cups onto a metal tray, careful not to spill any onto the marble top of her desk.

"Sorry," Alice glanced over her shoulder at Claire who had been watching the woman work, "I'm getting things ready for a lab next period. Do you mind my working while we talk?"

Claire shook her head without even thinking about the question first, "Not at all."

Alice hummed her appreciation and picked the tray up, her slender fingers curled around the metal edges as she walked towards the tables with the lab equipment on them. Claire followed closely.

"Back to your earlier question," Alice pulled a cup with a number 1 on it and set it on a table marked as table 1 by a laminated piece of paper before moving to the next table to repeat her action, "Your sister usually offers to help me carry things if she sees my arms are full. She's a very sweet kid and don't anyone else this, but she is by far my favorite student."

Claire's brows dipped low in confusion over her squinted eyes. K-Mart was Alice's favorite student? Her sister, the one who had blown up a glass beaker and injured her, was Ms. Abernathy's star pupil? That made no logical sense to the redhead. Alice seemed to notice when she glanced up from her doings and smiled warmly at the woman.

"I can see your confusion and understand it to an existent. How can I explain this so you'll understand?" A puff of breath seeped between Alice's parted lips and she set her tray down on a table, grabbing a stool to sit on in the process. Her eyes shut briefly and she cocked her head to the side as she thought, shifting her unruly bangs to one side of her head.

"I don't get it," Alice reopened her eyes when Claire spoke, training them on Claire as the redhead began to pace and twist her mothers ring around her finger in the aisle between the tables, "K-Mart is a total hellion. She doesn't listen to anyone anymore and fuck if I can her to listen to me! She just does whatever the fuck she wants and she doesn't care about the consequences. How on earth can you say she's your favorite!? I mean, you're the one she tried to kill after all."

"Claire please sit down before you hurt yourself. This is a chemistry class after all and if you tripped you could very easily land in a bowl of something hazardous to your health. Here," Alice pulled out a stool beside the one she was seated in, "you can sit next to me."

"Sorry," Claire huffed loudly and threw herself down onto the stool, setting her elbows on the tabletop and dropping her head into her hands with a groan, "I just don't understand my sister and I don't understand you. I don't think I understand anything anymore honestly."

Warmth seeped through the leather of her vest between her shoulder blades that sent volts of electricity up and down her spine where Alice had laid her hand on Claire's back. Slowly she lifted her head from her hands to meet Alice's wise and understanding gaze. No wonder K-Mart talked about Ms. Abernathy being such a cool teacher. This woman worked wonders on Claire's anger and her stress with just a look. She should apply for the job of being the school counselor. The consoling hand heating up her back did everything that look couldn't as well as making Claire's head swim with deliria.

"That's perfectly understandable in your situation Claire. Your only a kid raising another kid after the loss of both your parents. I know what it is like to loose your parents so I can only imagine what it must be like for you to deal with that and raising K-Mart on top of that. All on your own." Claire couldn't tear her eyes from the soulfulness of Alice's unwavering gaze and she was pleased that the teacher didn't remove her hand from Claire's back. In fact in the middle of her speech Alice began rubbing her palm up and down in a soft, soothing motion that did in fact calm Claire down greatly. It may have been her imagination but Claire thought she could feel Alice playing with the ends of Claire's long hair.

"I really admire your strength Claire," Alice smiled warmly and Claire felt the woman's fingertips message into the muscle cording her back, "Really. And I don't meant to be or want to be rude but your very wrong about your sister."

Claire snapped her mouth open and closed a few times, trying to form a response to that but couldn't process one. Who was Alice to say she didn't know her own sister? She wanted to be angry. She was trying to be angry but she couldn't be because lately K-Mart and Claire weren't as close as they once had been. There probably were many things that Claire didn't know about K-Mart anymore. That didn't stop Claire from being her ever stubborn self though.

She set her jaw and looked away from Alice to stare at the blue wash wall in front of her, "How is that?"

Claire regretted treating Alice with hostility the moment Alice removed her hand from Claire's back and set it on the table. She missed the contact already. Which she mentally berated herself for. She couldn't develop a crush on K-Mart's favorite teacher. Her sister hated her enough as it was, that would just tip the scales into something Claire couldn't salvage.

"Claire," Alice paused to lick her lips and glance around the room as if she were nervous then settled her eyes back on the curious redhead, "Claire. Were you….did Wesker tell you anything about the situation with K-Mart?"

Claire huffed and dropped her chin onto her forearms, tilting her head to the side so that she could hold eye contact with the teacher, "Yeah, 'course. She has to spend a weeks worth of after school detention with you. And she starts her in-school today. He said that you paid for the damages and asked him not to file charges either. Why _did_ you do that Ms. Abernathy? Alice, sorry."

"That's alright. But," Alice sighed and rubbed her hands together, adopting a look of seriousness Claire wouldn't have imagined Alice was callable of before she had seen it, "But is that all Wesker said to you about it?"

"Yeah. Why?" Claire frowned and picked her head up, anger boiling back up within her, "Did K-Mart do something else I wasn't informed of Ms. Abernathy?"

"No that's just it Ms. Redfield, your sister didn't _do _anything. I was adamant with that bastard of a man that I _did not _want K-Mart punished for anything that happened but he wouldn't listen to me. He hates me for some reason and honestly I can say the feeling is mutual!" Alice rolled her dazzling eyes and growled out of anger, making the normal low pitch of the woman's voice drop down enough to be comparable to a mans gruffness. Yet Claire's head was spinning to much from this new information for her to register how the growl had made her tingle.

"Wait. What your telling me is K-Mart isn't the one who created the explosion and injured you? That it was another student and Wesker is pinning it on my sister? Because if that is the case I'll take that bitch to court and get his ass fired!"

Alice shook her head but smiled a small, cute smile that calmed Claire's rage boiling just beneath her pale skin, "Yes and no Ms. Redfield. Your sister unknowingly created that explosion. It wasn't a big one, hardly anything really. Believe me, I've created bigger ones than that with my household cleaners in my backyard," The woman smirked mischievously and Claire decided she liked it a lot, "And these are only nicks and scrapes. Hardly anything to cry about. I still have shrapnel in my side from my time in the service that hurts worst than these did. K-Mart took the blunt of it anyway-"

"K-Mart was injured!? Why didn't anyone tell me that!?" Claire stood so fast she knocked the stool over, her head moving on her shoulder to find her jacket so she could leave and find her baby sister to check for wounds. Then she had every intension of marching into Wesker's office and demanding why he hadn't told her of K-Mart's injuries. Before she could take a step in the direction of the door Alice was before her and gripping her shoulders to stop her with a surprisingly strong vise for a woman.

"Claire please calm down. I had assumed K-Mart told you-"

At that Claire deflated and dropped her chin to her chest, her long hair curtaining her face, "No. K-Mart doesn't really talk to me anymore. Not since our fight."

"Oh well," Alice glanced over her shoulder at Claire's jacket then back at the woman, tilting her head slightly as she looked at Claire's broken demeanor, "it honestly wasn't bad. The glass cut her ribs a bit and explosion burned her abdomen but I tended that myself until the medics came. She wasn't seriously harmed but I had assumed she told you because the paramedics put stitches in them that required a doctor to take them out. I hate to think what she did if she didn't have a doctor look at them. I digress though. What I was getting to before was that your sister did not mix the chemicals that caused that explosion. Her tormenter did that. I know this because I watched Bethany mix the components at her table and pour them into K-Mart's beaker when she was not looking. Then when K-Mart turned on her Bunsen burner to burn small pieces of magnesium as part of her experiment the sparks caught the powder alight and it blew up. I happened to be standing near K-Mart because I was overseeing her burn the magnesium, that's the only reason I was injured at all.

When I tried telling Wesker this he wouldn't hear of it. 'Oh no' he said, 'My niece Bethany would never do something like that! She's a good kid like her Uncle Albert! We all know that K-Mart is a troubled child so it was obviously her Alice. I'll write up the papers and begin thinking of punishments as we speak'. I don't know what it is but Wesker has something against your sister Ms. Redfield. I know it was Bethany. And so does K-Mart because that girl wouldn't hurt a fly. She would never want to build a crude frag grenade in chemistry class to try to hurt me or anyone else. I know this for a fact. On top of that K-Mart swore to me that she didn't do it and I believe her because in my three years of teaching your sister I've never known her to be a liar. You've done well in that aspect, raising her to be an honest individual. "

Claire just stared at Alice, soaking in everything the woman has just told her and trying to make sense of it all. A few key things stuck out to her. Wesker had a niece that went to this school named Bethany and Bethany bullied K-Mart. K-Mart was being bullied to a degree that Alice referred to Bethany as a tormenter. K-Mart hadn't been the one to cause the disaster or injure the teacher. Claire had been extremely hard on her sister last night over something that her sister hadn't even done. K-Mart had been right, she had overreacted. K-Mart had been injured badly enough she had required stitches and didn't tell Claire. There were so many things that K-Mart wasn't telling Claire. Things she wasn't telling Claire because she thought that Claire didn't care. It was almost to much for Claire to take in.

She felt her throat constrict painfully and her eyes began to burn with the threat of imminent tears which she would not be letting flow freely. Not in front of a stranger she didn't know. She let out deep breaths and sucked in deeper pulls of air, trying to calm herself before she turned into a weeping mess.

"Alice," Claire's voice sounded wobbly even to herself, "K-Mart never told me she was being bullied. I didn't even know about Bethany. I'm completely in the dark here. Please…if you could just help me understand something, I'd be so grateful."

Alice shrugged, pulling her hands away from Claire's shoulders and stuffing them into her back pockets, "I can tell you what I know about it and what K-Mart has told me."

Claire nodded, swallowing the pain she felt upon hearing that K-Mart confided in her chemistry teacher instead of with Claire, "That'd be nice, thank you."

"Your welcome," Alice hooked her heel on the lower rung of a stool and pulled to towards her so that she could sit on it, "Students frequently tease K-Mart about her name and that she normally takes it in stride but it got really bad this year. Bad enough that a lot of the teachers starting noticing it but Wesker doesn't do a damn thing about it. She's often shoved into lockers hard, her belongings are flushed down the toilet, a few of her textbooks have been demolished one way or another, girls put things in her hair, shes tripped in the hall, students steal her lunch more often than not, and that's not even the worst what is done to her. Bethany is the instigator of K-Mart's serious bullying and I think that Wesker knows that his precious niece is doing all this and that is another reason he turns his cheek on it. Since your parents passed away Bethany has been leaving post-it notes on K-Mart's locker with pictures drawn on them of cars crashing or burning, she printed out the newspaper depicting your parents deaths and taped them against the walls of all the halls, she verbally abuses your sister by telling her that your parents named her K-Mart because they found her there and took pity on her and decided to keep her. She tells your sister that your parents probably drove off that bridge on purpose to get away from K-Mart because they hated her, couldn't stand her, were disappointed, ect. They are just downright cruel to her. All of us teachers try to stop the bullying if we can catch Bethany or the others in the act but there is little we can do if the Principal won't do anything about it.

For the past month I've been allowing K-Mart to sit in my classroom during lunch so she can have at least 30 minutes of peace. Sometimes she shows up without a lunch because the other kids have stolen it so I either give her mine or buy her a new one. I hope you don't mind my doing that. When she first started coming in here during lunch she'd just sit in the corner and read or play on her ipod but then she started talking. I don't think she was even talking to me, just talking to talk, but I listened anyway and eventually she started sitting at my desk during lunch and I sit at a table and listen to her talk to me. I have no idea how she managed to steal my desk from either but it always ends up happening.

She told me that the stuff they say about her doesn't really bug her. She said she knows that your parents loved her just as much as they did you and your brother and she knows she isn't adopted. She told me that the only thing that really upsets her is when they talk about you. Apparently because this is a small town or whatever people know a lot about one another. Personally I think Bethany got her information from someone who knows your family pretty well. Wesker most likely, I've heard him talk about you a couple times when the last name you share with K-Mart came up. Bethany tells all the girls to stay away from K-Mart because she is probably, excuse this please, 'a filthy dyke like her sister' and 'K-Mart will probably try to look up your skirts and down your shirts'. It disgusts as much as I can tell it does you by the look on your face. So naturally because K-Mart has been labeled as a lesbian she has no female friends and all the males of the school keep trying to get her into bed with them so they can convert her or some shit. Sorry for the curse, don't tell my boss. From what I understand, K-Mart is fiercely protective of you and does _not _like the things Bethany and her harpies say about you to hurt K-Mart. She said something the other day, something like 'I still love Claire even if she doesn't want me, and I don't like those bitches talking shit about my big sister! I'll fuck them up!' even though I don't think she could throw a proper punch without breaking her wrist. I don't picture her being much of a fighter. What I don't understand is-Claire? Are you alright?" Alice stopped her speech and stood from the stool when Claire choked and turned her back to the teacher.

Hot tears ran down her cheeks that she desperately wanted to control but couldn't stop after hearing everything Ms. Abernathy had told her. Claire had absolutely no idea that her baby sister was going through all this shit and some of it because of her. While Claire thought that K-Mart hated her, here at school she was defending Claire's honor and threatening to beat up girls when not long ago K-Mart had told Claire she was a pacifist. 'Violence,' she had told Claire while they baked cookies, 'only leads to more violence. I want a better way to solve things.' Yet she was willing to break her vow all for Claire. Claire felt horrible. She felt horrible for offering counseling when all K-Mart wanted was to confine in Claire and all Claire had to do was ask. She felt horrible for not seeing what K-Mart had been going through for almost half a year. She felt like a failure as her sisters guardian. And more than anything, she felt like she shouldn't be here. She should be wherever K-Mart is and she should be hugging her sister and telling her she was sorry.

But she couldn't. Not right now. K-Mart was in suspension and Claire was sobbing as quietly as possible in Alice Abernathy's classroom while the gorgeous teacher stood behind her trying to garner a response from Claire by quietly saying her name and touching her shoulder lightly.

"I'm sorry-" Claire's voice cracked and she cursed it mentally, clearing her throat to try speaking one more time, "I'm sorry for this. I don't normally cry. Ever. Especially not in front of people I've just met. Just give me a moment."

"That's alright. Take your time." The touch on Claire's shoulder left but she could still feel the presence of the teacher behind her and Claire drew unwitting comfort from it, "Do you need a tissue or something? I'm sorry, I'm not really good at these things. Normally when your sister cries I start grading papers and she's fine with that but I don't think that would be appropriate in this situation considering I'm the one that made you cry."

A dry chuckle forced its way between Claire's hushed sobs and it grew into full blown laughter that alarmed the teacher as much as it amused her. Tears still ran down Claire's face but she was smiling and laughing hard enough she needed to grip her sides. Alice took a step towards Claire as if she were going to touch the woman or hug her then frowned and took three more steps back. That created new bouts of laughter to rise from Claire's rumbling chest and shaking abdomen.

"I'm sorry but…did I say something funny?" Claire nodded profusely, wiping away her tears with the backs of her hands.

Alice frowned, "What exactly was so amusing?"

Claire straightened her posture and let out a long, shaky breath, "I dunno. I think I'm just so emotional that my body isn't really sure how to react. I mean, one second I'm sobbing and the next I'm laughing my ass off. I think it has something to do with repression. K-Mart told me one time that if I didn't stop shoving all my feelings down then I'd turn into this weird emotional mess and this must be what she was talking about. The idea of you thinking it was your fault that I started crying was funny to me because it's not your fault. I was crying because I felt really guilty and stuff. It was me stuff, not your fault. Thank you though, for telling me all that and for everything you've done for my sister. I think, for once in my life, I understand something. I'm going to talk to K-Mart after she gets out of school and hopefully fix things between us."

Alice nodded and smiled that warm smile that made that gurgling pit of want in Claire's stomach churn restlessly, "Your welcome. I'm really grateful to have gotten to know your sister Claire, she's a wonderful young woman and as I said she's my favorite student. And it was a pleasure to meet you as well. Hopefully we'll see more of one another." The flirtatious lilt in Alice's tone when she said that last bit to Claire made the redhead wonder if she was hearing things because certainly Alice couldn't meant what Claire thought it meant. In fact Claire convinced herself that she had merely imagined it and left it at that.

"I'm sure we will. K-Mart has to spend a week of after school detention with you after all. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that yet though because I took the day off today and normally I'd be at work by the time she gets out. I'll have to figure something out." Claire moved around Alice to grab her coat off the table and slip it on, working the buttons closed from top to bottom. As she did this Alice came over and leaned her hip against the table to watch Claire unbeknownst to the redhead who was absorbed in getting all of the buttons in the right place.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Claire picked her head up and looked at Alice's beautiful face, marred only by the shallow cuts on her cheek and above her thin brow. The woman looked serious. She had looked serious when Claire had met her, even when she smiled at times, but Claire found it endearing but now she looked deadly serious. After asking Claire the question her lips turned down at the edges and pursed, her eyes narrowed slightly and her brows creased in hard concentration. Seeing Alice so serious about her sisters wellbeing touched the redhead in more ways than one.

"I don't think so unless you can baby sit my sister for two hours until I get home." Claire laughed at her joke but it died in her throat when Alice didn't laugh along. The woman only tilted her head in thought for a moment then nodded.

"I can do that."

"Um what?"

Alice pushed off the table using her hip and strode over to her desk to rummage through the drawers and pull out a pen and a notepad she immediately began scribbling on. Once the pen worked to her liking she started writing something Claire couldn't see from where she was standing and ripped the paper from the pad, folding it into squares. She came back over to Claire and pressed the paper into Claire's hand.

"I have no problem with that as long as it is alright for you and K-Mart. That's my phone number, both my personal email and my school email, and my address. In case you want to get a hold of me about this because you shouldn't decide right now. Call me later or email me, whatever you like and works for you. I'll most likely be grading papers anyway. Such is the life of a teacher." Alice chuckled goodheartedly and leaned back against the lip of her desk. Claire just stared at her, gripping the paper in her hand tight enough to wrinkle it. She had this gorgeous woman's contact information and her address. K-Mart's chemistry teacher just gave her the information needed to contact her. Slowly a dopey smile spread across Claire's face.

"I…alright. I'll think about it. Thanks Alice."

The woman shrugged her shoulders, smiling smally, "It's no problem. Drive safely Claire."

The redhead stumbled back to her car in a daze, all of the emotional drama of the day finally catching up with her.

**Xx**

Claire drummed her fingers against the steering wheel as she waited in her car for K-Mart to show up. She had been parked in the empty parking lot for the past 20 minutes, waiting for K-Mart to exit to double doors after her detention had been served. Claire was eager to talk with K-Mart about what she had learned today and hope that K-Mart could forgive her. She glanced down at her watch again. 10 minutes since the last time she checked. Where was K-Mart? Irrational fear swept through her when she conjured images of bullies beating her up or tormenting her. Since Alice had talked with Claire, she couldn't stop herself from worrying about her sister. Every second she had spent pacing at the apartment, waiting to pick K-Mart up, she had been worrying about her bubbly, baby sister. The only thing she could think of was either having a meeting with Albert Wesker about doing something for her sister or pulling her sister out of school half way through the year. Neither option appealed to her so she decided to just put it off for now and worry about her talking with K-Mart that would go one of two ways. Good or bad.

Claire jumped from fright when someone knocked on the passenger side window nearly causing her to spill the hot cup of coffee she held between her thighs. She was relieved to see K-Mart's glowering face looking down at the door impatiently while she waited for Claire to unlock the door. Her hoodie was soaked, as per usual, and her teeth were clacking together hard enough that Claire could hear it inside. K-Mart must have been standing outside waiting in the snow for Claire and Claire hadn't noticed her. Of course.

The redhead moved the coffee to sit on the dashboard before she stretched across the console to flip the lock of the door. She nearly toppled into the passenger seat when K-Mart ripped it open before she had a change to move back into her own seat.

K-Mart leaned into the Chevelle to toss her bag into the back seat and, after knocking the extra snow off her boots, sat down. Claire scooped the coffee from the dashboard and held it out in front of K-Mart's face. Hazel eyes surveyed it with a perplexed look, her hand still on the door that was wide open letting the swirling flakes of snow inside. For once, Claire didn't mind. She was to anxious to see if K-Mart excepted the peace offering.

"What's this?" K-Mart flicked her eyes from the cup to her sister smiling a little to wide with a bit to much gleam in her eye.

"It's a coffee. Your favorite. From your favorite coffee place." Claire wiggled the cup a bit, sloshing the warm liquid inside. K-Mart blinked rapidity before slowly reaching up and taking the cup as if it were going to bite her if she moved to fast.

"Why? I thought you said I was grounded from anything that made me happy. Including life." The teen sipped her drink, her eyes fluttering shut and a small smile spreading across her face when the warm liquid ran down her throat.

"Yeah about that…I was a total bitch and I'm sorry. You were right, I was overacting big time. Your teacher kind of helped me see that." Claire looked out the front windshield, gripping the steering wheel tight again when she thought of the chemistry teacher and all of her unstable emotions sloshing inside her.

"You mean Miss Abernathy?"

"Yeah. I had my meeting with her today after I talked with Wesker," Claire imitated throwing up and was pleased to hear her sister giggle at Claire's antics, "Miss Abernathy is really cool-talks like a dictionary-but is super cool. And ah, pretty or whatever." Claire coughed awkwardly, glancing over at K-Mart to gauge her sisters reaction. The blonde just continued sipping at her drink and glancing between Claire and the open door, holding out her free hand palm up to catch snowflakes.

"So you like her?"

Claire was surprised to feel a blush burn at her cheeks; Claire never blushed. Not since she was an awkward teenager crushing on girls who were way out of her league or just girls period. Blushing made her feel like she was that Claire again, hormonal and willing to do anything for any pretty girl that blew a kiss to her.

"No. Maybe. I guess, I'm not really sure. She gave me her phone number." That finally got a reaction out of K-Mart. The teen whipped her head to the side and gawked at her sister, the coffee in her hand hover before her lips.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah but she gave it to me for you."

"For me? Why?"

" 'Cause you have to spend an extra hour after school in detention and because Wesker is a giant douche bag you aren't allowed to ride the late bus home. And I'll still be working so I can't pick you up and I do not want you walking home in the snow so Alice offered to keep you company until I come home. If your okay with that?"

The blonde's eyes lit up and she smiled broadly, just a glimpse of the old K-Mart Claire knew. She watched her sisters muscles twitch as she controlled her urge to lunge at Claire and envelop the woman in a hug. Claire wished she would have hugged her. It had been to many months since she had gotten a K-Mart hug.

"Do you mean it Claire? Ms. Abernathy is gonna do that?"

"Yeah. I have to call her and stuff but I want to talk to you first about something." Claire turned the key over and felt the engine purr to life. She looked at K-Mart to see her sister frowning.

"About what?" K-Mart pulled the door shut, finally.

"Us."

**So I realize that the characters are really OC right now but I did that on purpose. They will even out in further chapters. Stay with me here, let me know what you think. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow. You guys ended up being a lot more interested in this story than I had ever thought would happen. So. Thanks. And here is chapter 2. Read, enjoy, and review. **

**Oh and guys? Do me one solid please? I have 3x the amount of followers as I do reviews. Could you maybe, people who take the time to follow since you like it so much, drop a review in the fancy review box? It would make my day/night depending on when I get it. Thanks whole bunches so much and shit! Insert smiley face here. **

K-Mart was biting the inside of her cheek-hard- to keep from bursting into sporadic fits of loud laughter. Her fingers twisted and tugged at the comforter adorning Claire's bed which she sat upon, keeping herself from jumping up to hug her pacing sister. Since Claire had picked her up from dentition and had ominously declared that they needed to talk they hadn't said a single word to one another. Claire had ushered K-Mart into her room and gestured for the blond to sit on the bed then began pacing at the foot of the bed, swerving between piles of clothes and other random objects. It was clear that Claire had something important to say to K-Mart but the blond didn't have a clue as to what that was. She probably wanted to tell K-Mart that she was going to send her off to some orphanage because she can't handle her anymore. That was something K-Mart had been waiting for ever since Claire had suggested she get a shrink. Even if that was what Claire wanted to say, watching Claire pace like this and mumble to herself was making the blond want to laugh. It had always amused her.

"K-Mart." Claire said for the fifth time and slapped her closed fist against her palm, red brows drawn low over her emerald eyes. K-Mart nodded her head in acknowledgement but Claire, as she had the other four times she tried to start speaking, opened her mouth and snapped her jaw closed before resuming her pacing. K-Mart sunk her teeth into the soft flesh of her lower lip to prevent her smile from showing. Claire was adorable when she was frazzled, it was no wonder that ladies took such a liking to her big sister. She'd miss Claire after the redhead shipped her off. The teen leaned back against Claire's ornate headboard and reached over for the glass of wine sitting on her sisters nightstand. Before her fingertips even brushed the cool glass Claire had whirled over to that side of the room in a red flash and ripped the glass away from K-Mart, eyes burning with parental warning.

"I don't fucking think so! First off, you are way to young and secondly, even if I shared my wine it would not be with my minor sister whom is a minor. Minor as in underage minor." Claire dropped onto the edge of the bed with a huff, raising the glass to her lips and poking her tongue out to dip into the burgundy merlot. K-Mart finally allowed for a small smile and pushed her feet against Claire's thighs, using her arms to make reaching gestures at Claire and the wine glass in her grasp.

"Just a sip? Please? I wanna try!" K-Mart smirked and crawled ever so slowly towards her scowling sister, reaching for the glass until her fingers touched it. Claire huffed and moved the glass just far enough away that K-Mart couldn't reach it and took a rather large gulp of the liquid.

"No. I want to talk to you about something serious."

"Okay and while you think of what that is you can just let me hold that for you…"

"_K-Mart!_"

"_Claire_."

The redhead huffed and crossed one leg over the other, propping her elbow on her knee and dropping her chin into her fist, "It seems we've reached an impasse."

"I'm not sure what that means but you should totes let me try your shit," K-Mart tilted her head to the side, strands of her platinum blond hair falling across her brow, "I mean, you wouldn't want me to try my first drink with some guy who could get me drunk and take advantage of me would you?"

Claire clucked her tongue against her pallet and shook her head in amusement, "Clever little devil you are. Fine. Here. Your not going to like it though."

K-Mart grinned in triumph and took the glass from her sister, swishing the dark liquid around before touching her lips to the brim and tilting her head back to let droplets of the drink soak her tongue. She recoiled almost instantly and spat the drink back into the glass, coughing and gagging in hopes of getting the vile taste of stinging, sour grape juice out of her mouth. Not pleasant. Not at all pleasant. She thrust the glass back towards Claire and dropped her head to wipe her tongue off on the sleeve of her hoodie.

Claire chuckled and took the glass, setting it on back on her nightstand, "Told you that you wouldn't like it."

"Gross," The teen pouted and wiped the drool hanging from her chin on Claire's pillow, "Why do you drink that shit!? It's nasty."

"No," Claire tapped the end of K-Mart's nose with her fingertip, smiling lovingly at the teens pout, "It's an acquired taste. Most people don't drink it for the taste anyway, just the affects. And you really need to watch that mouth of yours."

"Can't. Don't have a mirror," That earned her an eye roll and K-Mart grinned because of it, "So what did you want to talk about? Finally gonna send me to that loony bin you think is best for me?"

Claire frowned and dropped her eyes to her lap, sucking her bottom lip between her teeth as she did so and bit down on it lightly. Had K-Mart really thought that she planned on sending K-Mart away? She closed her eyes and bit on her lip harder, using pain as a way to prevent the eminent tears burning her eyes from making an appearance. She had cried enough today.

"No," She finally let her reddened and aching lip from between her teeth, running her tongue across it to sooth the burn, "Did you really think I was going to do that to you?"

"I dunno. Maybe."

"Well I'm not."

K-Mart nodded absently and looked down to stare at the covers flipped over on Claire's bed in an unmade mess. Slowly she reached her hand out to rub her fingertips leisurely over the smooth, silken fabric in circles. Anything to keep her mind off the impending apologetic speech she was expecting from her sister about why she couldn't keep K-Mart anymore. Despite whether Claire was taking her to some phyc ward or not, she knew Claire was tossing her out sooner than the garbage. Fuck, what else could it be? Claire had already laid into her yesterday for what happened with Ms. Abernathy so unless Claire was feeling angry about it all over again because of her meeting then K-Mart couldn't think of anything else Claire would have to say. Thankfully, she was already mentally braced for the way this would shred the soft flesh of her sugar heart.

"K listen I want…I want…" Claire's voice tightened until it became nothing more than a soundless breath falling out of her with each heave of her chest. Why was this so difficult to say? Claire had never been good at admitting when she was wrong due to her prideful nature and ego that could contest to nearly any mans but this was just ridiculous. Saying sorry wasn't nearly as difficult as she felt it to be. The apology was burning in her stomach, coiling around her organs like a molten snake, slithering it's way up her throat to sit on and burn her tongue. A burning pet that she couldn't introduce to her sister because it wouldn't budge from her trembling lips. Fuck this.

"Claire? Are you alright? Oh god. Your not trying to tell me that something happened to Uncle Richard are you!? Because I don't think I-"

"No nothing like that. It's…" Claire glanced at her closet, picture the Glock she had stowed away in a locked case and wondering if maybe she used on herself it would be easier than conforming to this fucking apology. Nah, better not. That would be a terrible waste of bullets.

"It's…? It's what?"

"Okay-fuck-okay! Okay….fuck! Listen I'm…I'm…" Claire growled lowly and beat her thighs with her closed fists roughly, anger boiling over at her inability to be like any normal human and apologize.

"Seriously. Your trippin' and it's kind of freakin' me out." K-Mart stared at her sisters paler than usual face and noted the way Claire was abusing herself to vent frustration and then something donned on her and a choked gasp barely escaped her suddenly tense body, "Oh my god Claire. Your not trying to tell me you have like…dying of cancer or something are you? Claire I _can't _loose you! Please don't-"

The way Claire whipped her head over, eyes wide, stopped K-Mart short. They locked eyes and reached for one another at the same time, arms locking around torsos and bodies pulled to one another. The shorter girl tucked her head beneath her sisters chin and gripped a fist full of Claire's shirt, biting her lip to stop the flow of eminent tears. This was their first shared hug since their fight and K-Mart had missed her sisters protective arms. The way Claire placed light, comforting kisses atop her head and held her tight around her shoulders but not painfully, it was so missed K-Mart couldn't have been prepared for the surge of emotion that finally pushed those brimming tears to roll down her cheeks. Claire rubbed soothing circles along her sisters spine and felt a burn in her eyes when the fine trembling in K-Mart's muscles resonated through her, a tell tale sign of K-Mart's obvious crying.

"Oh K…no. No. I'm just trying to find some way to tell you how unbelievably sorry I am for the way I've been treating you lately and…and for suggesting counseling. That was stupid. I'm stupid. And I'm so sorry." Claire slid her palm up to cup the back of her sisters head, cradling the teen against her chest and lowered her nose into the girls hair. Warm, wetness pooled in Claire's eyes but she adamantly, or more so, stubbornly refused to cry. Instead she slammed her eyes shut tight to prevent leakage and pressed a kiss to the part in K-Mart's hair that turned into two kisses, then three.

"Your…your okay? Promise?" K-Mart picked her head up, sniffing and trying to wipe the mascara tainted tears on her shoulders so she wouldn't have to untangle her arms from Claire but wasn't managing so well. Claire chuckled softly and wiped away K-Mart's troubles for her with her thumbs and blotted at the running makeup with her blanket that had previously been tangled around their knees.

"Promise. At least I think so. Unless I start smoking again like I really want to-" Suddenly Claire tilted her head back and let out a long, want filled groan that echoed through the room and made her chest hum with vibrations, "-Fuck I miss smoking."

K-Mart emitted a watery laugh that was more sniffles than chuckles and shook her head at her sisters theatrics. She lowered her head back to Claire's chest, safely tucked beneath the redhead's tilted chin.

"Your silly Claire."

Claire smiled at the ceiling, feeling a bit of warmth seep into her long sense cold soul upon hearing K-Mart laugh and speak with a pleasance she hadn't been permitted to hear since their fight. Things almost felt repaired between them. All that was left to do was for K-Mart to except Claire's prolonged apology. Humming lowly in her throat Claire pitched her head forward to lay her cheek atop K-Mart's head, looping her arms around the girls skinny middle, bringing the girl half on half off her lap.

"I'm sorry K."

K-Mart nodded minutely, shifting closer to her sisters warmth and protection, "You said that already."

"Well do you forgive me?"

"Of course."

The sisters hugged one another tighter, barely thinking to breath.

"I was a bitch K."

"Yeah. Me too. Forgive me?"

"Yeah, easy. Considering how bitchy I was. No more fighting?"

"No more serious fighting. Like this last one but we're sisters so it wouldn't be normal or healthy if we didn't fight on and off."

Claire grinned and kissed her sisters head once more before shoving K-Mart away towards her mountain of pillows, "That's called bickering. We can bicker. Now enough mush, I'm starting to feel like lovey dovey soup. It's gross."

K-Mart giggled at her sisters typical rebuff of feelings. Her pleasure of finally feeling at peace now that the bond between Claire and her was repaired showed clearly in the way she lounged against the pillows, hands behind her head, and a smile a mile wide. Life was good again.

"Claire?" The redhead hummed her acknowledgment, "That was some real talk."

"Mhm. Made me hungry. What about you? Ready for dinner?" Claire leaned over the edge of her bed to pull her boots off and toss them in some corner of her room without looking. Once her feet were free of their leather confines she wiggled her tingling toes to bring them back to life, wincing at the slight pains accompanying the pops of her joints.

"Let's make spaghetti! And garlic bread! Ohh oh and sugar cookies! For dessert. Or for dinner too when your not looking."

Claire shrugged and stood from the bed, humming her pleasure when her spine popped as she stretched, "Sounds do-able minus the part about you sneaking sugar cookies. Shit wait! I forgot!"

K-Mart pulled her legs into a criss cross and gripped her ankles, tilting her head in confusion, "What?"

"Alice. I need to call her. She offered to baby sit you until I come home from work for the week that you have distension. Which is bogus by the way. Alice told me the real story," Claire turned to pin K-Mart with a very serious look, "Why didn't you tell me you were being bullied so badly?"

Caught and not sure what to do K-Mart dropped her head in shame and plucked at the frays of her jeans, "It's not that big of a deal."

"Yes it is K!" Claire all but yelled, shocking and scaring them both. She paused to collect herself, sucking in a few deep breaths and shaking her hands at her hips as if the anger bubbling inside her were a bit of mud on her hands she could sling off. Now calmer Claire reclaimed her seat on her bed and rested her palm on K-Mart's leg, staring imploringly at her sister with shinning eyes.

"K-Mart it is a big deal. The way they treat you isn't right and its only going to escalate unless someone puts a stop to it. And I'm terrified it's going to escalate into violence and your gonna come home beat to shit." Claire bit into her lip harshly and turned her eyes from K-Mart to stare out the window, hoping that her emotions would get control of themselves so she wouldn't be moved to tears for what seemed like the hundredth time today. She only blinked and returned her eyes back to K-Mart's gentle face when she felt her hand being cradled between K-Mart's own petite hands.

She offered her sister a sloppy smile that didn't do much to hide the turbulence of emotions swirling around inside the much to thin body of hers, "Don't be afraid. I'm not. Ms. Abernathy keeps me safe at lunch and I always ignore them in the halls, even when they shove me or ruin my stuff. I'm kind of hoping one of them will hit me actually."

"The fuck!? Why would you say that!? Are you suddenly a masochist now!?"

K-Mart held up a finger, a perplexed look distorting her else wise smooth features, "Okay I don't know what that means Claire. I do think I can guess close maybe though. I want one of them to hit me because then it will be physical abuse aka assault and then Mr. Wesker would be forced to do something about my bullying because then the police would be involved. Get it?"

"Yeah makes sense but….I don't want that to be what it has to come to. Just try not to get hit please? We'll figure something out. I'll talk to Alice about it when I call her. Now, how about dinner?"

K-Mart picked her head back up, her grin replaced, "Sounds _amazing. _I'm gonna wash my face first okay? I'll meet you out there!"

"Sure." Claire stood once more to cross the room so she could begin the search for her cellphone. The little fucker liked to hide.

**X x x X**

"Ali! My Ali Cat! Mija come give me a hug!"

"Oh god, mother! Do not call me that! I'm a grown woman! Honestly." Despite Alice's annoyance at the childhood pet name that her mother had given her, a small smile lit up her face because it was, after all, her mother. The short Hispanic woman was standing in her kitchen, rubbing flour covered hands over the front of her apron so that she could envelop her daughter in what was going to be a bone crushing hug. Anita Olivera was, despite what most people assumed because of her darker skin and warm chocolate eyes, Alice's birth mother. Alice, however, took more after her father who was a tall Caucasian male with blond hair and the same piercing blue eyes as his daughter. She had never met her birth father, just Mr. Ameilio Olivera who her mother Anita had met when Alice was just but a toddler. Alice was to young to desert the difference and had grown knowing only Ameilio as her father and he had always been all she had ever needed in a father. There was no desire in her to find out who her real father was because, if anyone asked who that was, she would tell them Ameilio was that man. About a year after Anita had married Ameilio she had become pregnant with a son and, 9 months later, Alice had received a brother. Carlos Olivera.

The siblings had grown thicker then thieves growing up. Alice was incredibly protective of her younger brother because he was prone to making foolish mistakes and often falling in love with any pretty girl that batted her lashes his way. Vise versa Carlos was equally, if not more, protective of his big sister. Lucky for him, he had always been stocky and finely muscled his whole life because Alice had always had a fondness to pick fights with guys who were three times her size and often times Carlos was the only one foolish enough to have her back. Because of that the siblings had grown up scrapers and labeled as troublemakers and were subject to many of Anita Olivera's rants about good behavior and, for Alice, how to act more like a lady.

Being ladylike had never been high on Alice's priority list and, the moment she had turned 18, she had enlisted into the Military. She had always been naturally good at adapting her body to vigorous workouts and straining her body to point of utter exhaustion and not one man nor woman had ever bested her in a fight she had entered. That said, she had easily climbed through the ranks of special forces before her brother had joined as well. She had served as his superior through the years of being in active duty, fighting side by side all over the world, until Alice had reached retiring age and opted to take that out. With all of her extensive training in all things military as well as various other things, Alice could have taken many routes but had chose, instead, to become a high school Chemistry teacher. Teaching had always been something Alice had loved doing, aside from shooting guns and inflicting bodily harm, plus she quite enjoyed the idea of being a role model for young adults. She'd also have the accuse of blowing things up for academic reasons. So it was settled for her, Sergeant Major Alice Abernathy had retired at 30 and chosen a profession in the civilian world that was common and moderately safe. Unlike Alice, when Carlos had retired, he had decided to use his skills and join the FBI with little to no schooling thanks to his military background. Staff Sergeant Carlos Olivera liked to brag, very often, to his sister about his latest adventures working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Alice would just shrug and go into a spiel about her job and how amazing it was in comparison. They had a touch of sibling rivalry going on. Friendly, but obnoxious to their parents.

"Oh mija, you know you'll always be my little Ali Cat no matter how old or tough you get." Anita clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth as she appraised her daughters attire. A whimsical chuckle filled the room, making Alice scowl and tug at the hem of her shirt self-consciously.

"What?"

Anita shook her head and glided across the wood flooring in her heels to envelop her much taller daughter in a warm hug, "You never were one to dress like a girl honey."

Alice pouted much like a child and tried to pull away from her mother but Anita would have none of it, simply tightening her grip. Both of them knew that, if Alice really wanted to, she could easily pull away using her impressive strength but they also both knew Alice would never do such a thing. So she remained trapped in her mothers hug. Sulking.

"There's nothing wrong with what I'm wearing mother." Alice glanced down at her wardrobe, trying to be sly so her mother wouldn't notice but she was caught and, at the sound of Anita's giggle, Alice went back to sulking. Granted she was wearing bulky combat boots, tan in color, with her dog tags in the laces as was protocol for an officer of her the Military and that was boyish but her clothes were okay. Perhaps. Well she was wearing a baggy Metallica t-shirt she had bought in the men's section but her blue skinny chinos were feminine and stylish at that. She sighed. Yeah, she could see her mothers point of view, she did dress boyish.

"Of course not sweetie. I never said there was." Anita finally-_finally_-released Alice and patted her child's cheek lovingly before turning on her heels to go back to her cooking. Spices wafted from the pots boiling and brewing on the stove top, filling the air with fragrant, stomach rumbling smells. Alice leaned her hip against the table to watch her mother scurry from one pot to the other, stirring and humming as she moved, then bent to crack the oven and peek inside. More warm, delicious smells rolled around the room when the oven opened and lingered long after it was closed.

"What are you making?" Alice moved forward a step to peek but Anita was ready, armed with a wooden spoon and a dangerous, playful gleam in her eyes.

"Food." Anita poked at Alice with the spoon to shoo her child off and Alice, learned over years of getting whacked upside the head with that spoon for invading her mothers space when she cooked, stepped back. Anita gave an approving nod and turned back to the stove.

"What kind of food?"

"Good food Alice."

"What _kind_ of good food?"

Anita chortled into the palm of her head, sweeping her chocolate eyes from her simmering food to her inquisitive daughter, "Good _cooked_ food. You'll see what it is when its done and everyone else gets here. You sound like a child again asking me all those questions Ali Cat."

Feeling childish, Alice unfolded her arms and let them dangle near her hips, "Whatever. Is the loser still asleep?"

The spoon was once again pointed at Alice in warning, "Alice Abernathy. Don't call your brother names."

Alice finally smiled, amusement tickling her deep down into her labeled cold heart, "Oh mother. I called him names that would make you shriek and cry when I was his Gunnery at MCRD and he was just a little bitty scrap of a recruit."

Anita waved her hand around idly, canceling out what Alice had said, without taking her eyes away from her work, "That's different. It was part of your job to be mean to him then. And that was at boot camp, this is my home. Now, if your curious, Carlos is in his room playing video games. As per usual. Honestly! He's a grown man and he still plays video games like a teenage boy. How is he suppose to give me grandchildren if he spends all his time down there messing around? When are _you _giving me grandchildren Alice?"

Alice coughed awkwardly and turned away from her mother, peeking her head around the doorway leading into the kitchen to see if she could see a light coming from the stairs that led down into Carlos's basement room, "So yeah…I'm gonna go kick the old man to get him upstairs before everyone gets here. Make sure he shaved and has pants on. The usual!"

Anita whipped around, spoon aimed, and eyes narrowed at her daughter, "Don't think you've gotten out of this mija! I expect grandchildren from you! Soon! Why can't you find a nice woman, settle down, and gimmi some babies!? It's not asking much Alice! For god sakes your at the perfect age for-"

"_Mother_! Your…ugh! I'll be right back!" And Alice hurried from the kitchen before Anita could say another word about babies.

It wasn't that Alice didn't want children, on the contrary she did. She loved children, especially in their toddler years when everything was so small and so cute. The problem with her was that all of her insecurities were screaming at her when she thought about finding that nice girl and having those grandchildren. She was afraid that her temper would get in the way when she had to reprimand her children. She was afraid that she may have some sort of mental repression from not knowing her biological father and that would come back to haunt her. She was afraid that no woman perfect enough for her to marry and raise a family with would want to stick with her after they discovered all her faults and her scars. She was afraid of screwing up like she screws up everything good in her life. The only thing she had ever managed to do well was being a Marine and telling other Marines what to do. Marines like her messy, lazy brother Carlos who enjoyed living at home not because it gave him a responsibility free life but because he enjoyed be close enough to his parents he could take care of them if it was called for in any instance. Alice would probably live at home too if she didn't like her lonely apartment as much as she does.

Carlos was, predictably, pants-less. His room was spacious enough to have a sleeping area off to one corner of the room and a entertainment area of sorts in the other. That's where he was to be found, sitting cross legged on his leather sofa in front of his massive plasma screen TV, special edition Black Ops 2 controller in his hands. A headset was molded around his head, covering his ears and flattening a patch of his messy dark hair. He didn't notice his sisters approach thanks to aforementioned headset and his whole attention span being focused entirely on the war going on within the screen. Needless to say he was shocked to suddenly find himself in a tight headlock and to have his headset ripped off and thrown onto the floor.

"Ey fuck'a! What do you think your doin' Sergeant!? Shouldn't you be doing something else right now or should I be makin' you give me pushups lil' fuck'a!?" Alice growled in her commanding tone just near Carlos's ear. The younger of the two siblings cracked a grin and let out something that was probably a laugh but sounded more like a choked whimper thanks to Alice's tight pressure on his larynx.

"Yes Ma'am….sorry ma'am!" Carlos barely got out but, after he had, Alice released him. Instantly he raised his hand to his reddened throat to stroke the irritated skin softly, trying to smooth away the burn. Alice cracked a grin and shoved his head forward playfully, though not gently, and hopped over the couch to sit beside him. While he attempted to recover she scooped up his controller and resumed his game, poking her tongue out and furrowing her brows in concentration as she attempted to maneuver the digital grounds without being killed.

"Where's your pants loser?" She mumbled, jamming her thumb down repeatedly on the 'shoot' button and pumped his fist in victory when she killed her enemy.

"I'll tell mom your calling me names Alice." Carlos smirked as if he had just won a great prize.

"Pussy." Alice glanced at him, shooting him a quick glare, and yelling her frustration when she died because she had taken her eyes off the TV for just a second.

Carlos just glowered and trudged over to his closet to find a pair of clean pants. As he got dressed he listened to Alice curse at the TV and complain about children playing adult videos games and how that should be against the rules. Finally she gave up out of frustration over loosing so easily and threw the controller down on the couch. With a huff she reclined against the armrest, folding her legs beneath her and throwing a look over her shoulder towards Carlos.

"Who all could make it to Mami's dinner?" Alice asked, trying to hold in her laughter when Carlos began struggling getting her leg into the leg whole of his dark jeans.

"Ah…I think she invited everyone. Yuri, Nicholai, Kaplan, Jill, and Rain. All your inferior officers SgtMaj Abernathy. Getting our little group back together."

"You act like Mami doesn't invite them to every family dinner every weekend or something." Which was entirely true. When Alice and Carlos were still in active duty overseas, Alice had been in command over a small group of elite spec ops whose missions were always labeled classified and top secret. After they had all done their time, the group had stayed in contact since they had spent years of their lives bonding and becoming something akin to a family. When they came home, Alice had hosted spec ops dinners that they all tried to attend as frequently as possible but, with conflicting schedules, and there never being much space in Alice's small apartment, they had struggled to continue with the tradition. Until Anita found out and took control of it. Since then she had been hosting the dinners at her house and had basically adopted all of Alice's solders as her own children thus making them more so of a family. A family in all ways except blood and legal paperwork.

"Yeah, yeah. No need to get all sarcastic with me. How was school today?" He flashed his trademark grin that made all the ladies swoon. Usually.

Immediately thinking about school brought Alice's train of thought to the mind-numbingly beautiful redhead-Claire-she had met with earlier that day. Fluttering wings of butterflies tickled her insides, filling her with a childish longing she hadn't felt since high school when she would 'crush' on pretty girls. Alice Abernathy did not crush on woman. She swept them off their feet and laid them down in her bed. She wasn't a romantic. She wasn't much for romance in general. Seduction and sensuality was her forte but damn it if Claire hadn't come into her classroom and blown her away. Something that had been lying dormant within Alice had stirred, groggy and vengeful, that she didn't know lived inside her old heart. Something that had a ravenous apatite for love and was drooling over the sight and idea of Claire. The little fucker had probably been the inspiration behind her word vomit and her stupid idea to give Claire all of her contact information including her home address. Fuck. She may as well have said 'Hey Claire we should totally get married and you should totally meet my parents. Wait! Don't be afraid! Come back! I love you!' because that probably would have been less subtle than the way she had verbally thrown herself at Claire. Not to mention she couldn't stop touching the redhead! Tingles had spread through her each time she even brushed the woman and Alice had quickly become addicted to the feeling.

"Alice? Hello? You in there?" The woman blinked her eyes and noticed that Carlos had come back to sit beside her on the couch (finally fully dressed) and had been waving his hand in her face to gather her attention. Oops.

With a growl she slapped his hand out of her face and snapped, "What!?"

Carlos shrugged, rubbing his battered hand that had suffered Alice's abuse, "I asked you about school and you totally went all dead zone on me."

"Oh. Yeah school was good. Had a meeting with one of my students…um, parental person. Her sister because her parents died a while back."

Carlos grimace, rubbing her palms up and down his thighs the way he did when he was uncomfortable with something, "Rough," and like he did when he didn't know how to comfort someone because he was uncomfortable, he changed the subject "Was she hot?"

Hot? The woman was a fucking goddess! But Alice couldn't say that, so she played dumb, "Who?"

"The sister duh! Who else? Come on give me details! Hair color, eye color, bust size, ass-"

"Shut up. Pig. God. Your such a man sometimes," Alice rolled her eyes and Carlos smirked, "Red, green, not telling you, and yes, she had a very fine ass. There. Happy?"

Carlos closed his eyes as if he could possibly conjure an image of a woman that could match the real memory Alice had of Claire's beautiful face, and made a pleased humming sound, "You should totally hook us up."

Jealously roared to life, washing over the walls of Alice's insides and leaving behind a burning sensation that was unpleasant as it was strong in presence. She did not like that idea. She didn't like the idea even if it was a joke and fuck if she knew why she felt so adamantly against Claire being with anyone other than her. Besides Carlos wouldn't even have a shot in hell because-the jealously subsided and was replaced with a happy warm balm over the burns it had left-because Claire was as lesbian as Alice was. Very. She smirked and plopped her legs in Carlos's lap, crossing them at the ankles.

"Sorry no can do bro."

Carlos opened his eyes and adopted a look that could easily be misconstrued as pouting, "Why not? I'm single. She's probably single. I'm hot. She's hot. It works." Alice shook her head, practically purring with giddiness for what she was allowed to say next, "She plays for the same team as me bro."

Carlos painful groan was a satisfying moment Alice. She basked in it. That's right, you can't have her Carlos because she's gay. Take it.

The sound of boots stomping down stairs alerted the brother and sister to company but neither of them made to move from the current positions of Alice using her brother as a footstool and Carlos draped over an armrest with his eyes closed and a grimace on his face. Chad Kaplan was the first one down the stairs in all his primped glory. His dishwater blond hair was nearly combed over to one side and, like his hair, he was dressed neat in a pair of gray slacks, a white button up, and a gray tie. Kaplan seemed to always be the one to dress up for these dinners, insisting that it was an insult to Anita and Ameilio should he wear anything else. The man, as always, walked tall with the straightness of only a soldier could since it had be disciplined into his reflexes. Alice gave him a lopsided smile and he gave her a playful salute that had them both laughing.

"Ma'am." He spoke, clacking heels together and standing up straighter if possible, chest out, chin tilted up, arms parallel to his sides. Alice placed two fingers above her brow and gave him a small mock salute.

"At ease Lieutenant." Kaplan tapped his eyebrow in gratitude before moving over to Carlos's mini fridge to find himself a beer or something equally alcohol infused. Carlos seemed to finally pull himself together at the appearance of his friend and shoved Alice's legs off his lap, nearly knocking Alice off the damn sofa. Two pairs of hands stopped her fall, one smaller pair gripping her arms and another pair holding her up near her hips. She heard a feminine grunt and another annoyed huff just before she was shoved back onto the cushions rather roughly.

"You could've helped at least a little Mas'er. Your like, made entirely of muscle and that shit, 's not light you know." Rain Ocampo grumbled unhappily, plopping down onto the couch near Alice's feet. The Latina was in her typical civilian clothes, a pair of black khakis with a canvas belt, her black tank top tucked into the hemline of her pants, her combat boots, and her dog tags strung around her neck, resting atop the swell of her breasts for everyone to see. Her glossy black hair was tied back in a high pony tale, out of her way in case she spontaneously needed to bust ass. She never wore makeup aside from the light glimmer of lip gloss residue her girlfriend, Jill Valentine, left on her after a kiss.

Jill herself sat down upon Rain's lap, pulling her girlfriends lean arms around her hips and twisting herself so that she could plant a kiss on the Latina's lips. Jill was dressed in a low cut, strapless blue dress that fell to about mid thigh where her extremely high legged black leather boots came up to meet the hemline. Out of the three woman, Alice being one of them, in the Spec Ops team Jill was the most fashionable one. The one that dressed comfortably like a woman. Her short raven hair was styled so that her bangs were gelled back, looping in a circle and looking like a wave crashing onto the top of her head. The ends were spiked out in a disarray that probably took an hour to perfect. Somehow, the couple that was cuddling right in front of Alice, were complete opposites but worked perfectly together. A match made in heaven.

Alice nodded at them as a greeting, muttering, "Lieutenant Ocampo, Lieutenant Valentine" and giving them the same mock salute she gave Kaplan when they nodded back. That was as long as they allowed their attention to drift from one another and quickly became engrossed in a whispered conversation that made Jill giggle and blush wile Rain just smirked. Alice wasn't jealous of their love, she had never been, but watching them now made her drift into thoughts of red hair and green eyes. Would Claire blush if Alice whispered in her ear? Would Claire giggle and sit in her lap? Fuck, she needed to get her mind set straight. Or, back to normal, not straight.

Yuri and Nicholai came down the stairs beside one another, bother Russian men straight faced and dressed respectively in pressed black clothing, not overly dressy like Kaplan but still nice. Carlos greeted both men with a clap on the back and shoved a beer in their hands, guiding them towards where he and Kaplan had been conversing about their latest adventures in life. They spared a moment to greet their commander and Alice greeted them as she did the others, with a small mocked salute.

Camaraderie among the group came easy and their conversations flew by, one after the one, painted with laughs and smiles large enough to crack faces. They spoke in turns or over one another and that never bothered them, they were always eager to hear more about one another. Some spoke with a jubilance and fluid hand gestures while they spoke and others, like Nicholai, remained still as he spoke aside from the smile stretching his bearded mouth. Laughter emanated loudly around the room from their joined circle, some sitting on the floor others grouped on Carlos's lone sofa. An hour passed before they knew it and Anita was calling them for dinner banging on the open door of Carlos's room upstairs. Like teenage children they raced one another to the dinner table, pushing and shoving with fits of laughter seeping from various people. Alice, of course, had won. As per usual.

She pulled her chair out and plopped down with a victorious smirk, flashing her teeth at the group of adults moping when they took their seats. Bright pain splashed across Alice's knuckles and she let out a surprised yelp, clutching her hand to her chest and looking up at her glowering mother who held her trusty spoon in one hand with her other placed on her cocked hip.

"What is the rule about running in this house? Need I remind you every time you come over Alice?" Anita clucked her tongue once, finalizing what she said, and rover her eyes over all the other guilty looking adults who were each very focused on their empty plates. Even if each one of them were trained killers who had been in the worst of the worst situations and come out alive, they were terrified of Anita and her spoon. As they should be. They were a lethal combination.

"That goes for the rest of you too! Be grateful I don't come over there and whack each one of ya!" For emphasis, Anita waved her spoon at them.

"We're sorry Mrs. Olivera." Rain mumbled with her head bowed and her fingers twined tightly with Jill's for comfort.

Like that, Anita's smile was back in place and she was bubbly and happy again, "That's alright Rain darling. How have you been? How's work? And you Jill? I heard that you received an award! How did that go? I bet it was exciting! Tell me _everything_." While Anita chatted with the other two females, Alice listened with her keen ears to the sound of the front door being opened and keys being dropped into the bowl near the door. She perked up in her chair and considered getting up to greet whom had entered the house but just when she was swinging her legs out from under the table to stand, Ameilio entered the dinning room.

Droplets of water clung to the thick threads of his suit jacket, catching the lights and shimmering brightly until they rolled away or soaked into the fabric. A black fedora sat atop his slicked back hair, water dripping from the brim off the hat onto his shinny leather shoes. His smile made the dimples in cheeks appear when his cinnamon eyes took in all of his guests sitting at the dinner table. Still smiling he unwound the scarf around his neck and set his briefcase down, leaned back through he archway of the door to toss his scarf onto the back of the couch in the living room. Before he could even move to take his jacket off, Anita was against him with her arms thrown his neck and kissing him as if she hadn't seen him in years instead of the few hours he had spent at work.

"Gross! PDA Mother! Get off him!" Carlos spit out, making gagging sounds to accompany and Alice nodded along with her, covering her eyes with her hands and groaning like she was in pain. Everyone else at the table laughed at their reactions and Jill was still cooing over how cute the adults were.

"Hello children who aren't really children anymore!" Ameilio's baritone voice spoke, amusement laced in his tone. He pecked his wife once more on the cheek before moving forward to hug Alice around her shoulders, placing a kiss atop her blond head.

"Hey Papi. How was work?" Alice gripped his forearm to reciprocate the hug just before he let go to move around the table to repeat the action with his son, clapping his hand on the backs of his guests as he pasted them.

"The usual. Pissy clients, angry boss, and more paperwork for me but I got to come home to all you and my beautiful wife so I'd say I did okay today." Ameilio threw a salacious wink towards his wife.

Anita huffed, dropping her spoon into a pot sitting in the middle of the table and put her hands on her hips, "Oh stop that you. We're much to old to be flirting at the dinner table."

Ameilio acted offended as he claimed his seat at the head of the table, looking over the faces of his guests and roaming over the assortment of food Anita had laid out, "One is never to old to flirt with their wife at the dinner table. Isn't that right girls?" Ameilio reached over to elbow Jill who sat on his right, earning him a peel of laughter from the couple.

"Here, here!" Rain clinking her fork against her wine glass, still chuckling.

"Don't encourage them Ameilio," Yuri complained, reaching over to grab a roll from the center of the table, "Nicholai and I rode with them here and listening them talk was like listening to a audiotape of porn. Disturbing."

"Oh shut up," Jill countered, throwing her roll at Yuri, "It was not that bad."

"Says you," Nicholai threw in his two cents, his voice thick with his Russian accent even after spending years growing up in America, "You don't hear yourselves. You two should come with your own 'M-rated' stamp across your foreheads."

Everyone laughed, including the couple even if the joke was at their expense. Their laughter was interrupting by the shrill chirping of Alice's cellphone, signaling that she was getting a call. Who would be calling her that wasn't already sitting at this table with her? Confused, she lifted the hem of her shirt to pull her singing phone from her pocket. It was a number she didn't recognize.

Weary, she accepted the call, blatantly ignoring everyone's stares.

"Hello…?"

"_Alice, it's Claire. Ah, Claire Redfield. We talked earlier?_"

A vibrant blush crawled up Alice's neck and settled in her cheeks. Claire. Claire was calling her. Her eyes widened and she darted her look from person to ever growing curious person. She could see it on their faces that they were going to pounce on her the moment she hung up the phone and she really didn't want that. Quickly she jumped up, knocking her chair over with that back of her knees.

"Claire! Hi! I'm glad you called." She hurried past the group to go hide in the kitchen, leaning her hip against the counter. That only lasted a moment before everyone piled through the doorway and grouped together, eying her blush with smiles.

"_You…are?" _

"Yes! Um…were you calling me to talk about my," Alice glanced at her prying family and friends, "my proposal?" She groaned in annoyance when the group 'ohh'ed and 'ahh'ed and reached behind her to grab a bag of bread to throw at them. Sadly Kaplan dodged it with ease. She turned to hurry out of the other doorway that looped around the staircase into the living room. Everyone followed but Alice moved fast enough to hopefully be out of ear range.

"_Yeah, yeah I am. I thought that it was a great idea and I'd be really thankful if you could do that. I cold even scrape together something to pay you for it-" _

"Oh no that won't be necessary Claire. I'm doing this as a favor for you and K-Mart. I can't take money from you for something I'd enjoy doing," Alice glanced over her shoulder to see her father giving her a suggestive wink and, because of the distraction, she missed the oncoming cough and tripped over it, "Fuck!"

"_What!? What happened!? Are you alright!? What was that noise!?" _

Alice rubbed her head, and glared at everyone who was laughing at her from the other side of the cough, "My skull making contact with the coffee table."

"_Ouch. You gonna be alright?" _

Warmth seeped into the coggles of Alice's otherwise cold heart at the sincerity and caring on Claire's voice, "Yeah I'll be fine. Thank you."

"_Don't die before I can use you for babysitting." _Alice heard Claire emit a breathy chuckle that sent flares of heart through the lower reign of her stomach.

"I'll do what it can. So will I be watching K-Mart at your house or should I take her to my apartment or…how would you like this to go?" Alice glanced up at her mother who was wearing a knowing smile then to her father who was leaning his arms on the back of the couch mouthing something about grandchildren. She tried not to look as appalled as she was sure she did. Rain and Jill merely were snickering and making crude hand gestures. Carlos was waggling his eyebrows and elbowing Yuri who was giving Alice a thumbs up. Nicholai looked lost and Kaplan was trying to explain it to him. Stupid. Everyone of them. Unhelpful, annoying, stupid-and she was so going to kill them after she got off the phone!

"_Whatever works for you Alice, I'm just really lucky your so cool about this. Or else I would be fucked. No K-Mart-no! Put it in the bowl not the-oh god!" _There was a crash on the other side following by more breathy chuckles from Claire and K-Mart's familiar laughter in the background.

"Are _you _alright? What was that?" Alice couldn't stop the smile spreading across her face as the sisters continued to laugh through the phone.

"_K-Mart is trying to be a master chef. She figured she could crack eggs from a distance and throw the egg into the bowl. She failed. Miserably. By the way, K, your cleaning this mess up! Don't argue! You're the one that wanted to make cookies before dinner. Oh Alice…call me tomorrow when you and K-Mart get home okay?" _

"I can do that Claire."

"_Thank you. I'll leave some money so you guys can order a pizza or something." _

"You don't need to. I have money. I am her teacher after all, they pay me to knock something into those heads."

"_If your sure…so just call me and try not to let K get away with everything. She does that somehow." _

"I won't. Goodbye Claire."

"_Goodnight Alice. Sweet dreams." _

"You too." Alice disconnected the call with a smile still playing on her lips, dropping her phone onto the carpet near her hips and momentarily ignoring her spectators.

"_Who_ was that _Alice_?" Her mothers voice broke her Claire induced trance, using that same tone she used when she was asking for grandchildren. Dear god.

"No one. Dinner time?" She scooped her phone up and stood, ready to go back to the table but was blocked off by Yuri's towering figure. Traitor.

"Oh no. I think you need to tell us who this Claire is mija." Ameilio spoke around his chuckle, patting a cushion on the couch for her to sit on while she spoke. Well fuck.

**Okay well…I'm being hurried to finish this so…that's it for this chapter. Please, please leave reviews! **


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